


Caudal Me

by Inventivetic



Category: Undertale
Genre: Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Body Horror, Child Death, Depressed Sans, F/F, Fake Science, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Medical Experimentation, Memory Loss, Mental Health Issues, No More Resets (Undertale), Papyrus Has Issues, Papyrus-centric, Parent W. D. Gaster, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route, Sans Remembers Resets, Science Fiction, Scientist W. D. Gaster, Temporary Amnesia, Time Travel, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-22
Updated: 2018-06-06
Packaged: 2018-11-17 04:36:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11268084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inventivetic/pseuds/Inventivetic
Summary: Papyrus is ecstatic to be on the surface. His nightmares— violent scenes that would conclude with a strangled sob or broken plaster littering his bed— have finally tapered off. However, he's had some time to realize how... familiarised he is. A melodic voice, a hug, a piercing pain. He remembers too much to just brush off. He plans to find answers. Of course, his brother hears about it.Undyne tries to fix this.





	1. don't roast my marshmallow

**[2 A.M]**

**Undyne's household.**

 

Undyne hadn't expected to see Papyrus this early in the morning, not after they were set free. In fact ... a lot of things had changed after Frisk had vanished from their lives, like a true angel, only presenting themselves when monsters needed a savior the most.

Yet, here he was, donned in casual clothing ( _not his battle-body)_ with a dumb smile plastered on his face like a sticker.

Once Undyne was foolish and naïve, attempting to somehow convince her pal that 2 AM was _not_ a reasonable time. She had much more resolve then, now her body was trained to numbly step aside for his entry. Undyne closed the door behind him, shambling to the kitchen to brew some tea.

Undyne sat, facing him, watching silently as he politely blew on his tea, even though he wouldn't be able to taste the tea or sense the heat. Personally, Undyne enjoyed drinking tea when it was near-scalding, especially at night. It was like her whole body was waking up on the inside.

 

“It's nice to see you again, Papyrus." Actually, that was an understatement. All the times she spent with him was flooding back to her and it was choking her up a little. 

 

“LIKE-WISE!" He smiled, holding the dainty china in his bony fingers. 

 

"We really fell out of old habits, huh?" 

 

“I MEAN, YES?? BUT HABITS DIE HARD. JUST LIKE FRIENDSHIPS." Undyne looked up at him, his infectious smile spreading to her as well.

 

 "Damn," Undyne leaned over, her noogie-fist yearning for his head to obliterated, but it didn't feel right. “Papyrus, I haven't seen you in almost a month. Why the hell haven't you been calling me more??" To be honest, it was a mutual problem. With Alphys as a girlfriend, the possibility of a family, and the _whole fucking world_ at her disposal, it was easy to lose track.

 

“WELL, I HAVE BEEN BUSY BEING GREAT AND ALL! I GUESS I JUST FORGOT."

 

She leaned back into her couch. "Sorry. For not trying harder I mean. It's just been a whole lot to swallow," Undyne smiled, “it's just so freakin' amazing. In the Underground ... there was always a limit. Now? Now  _there's nothing holding us back_."

 

Papyrus chirped back, "HOW DETERMINED OF YOU."

 

Undyne looked at him fondly, "What can I say? I guess that little punk rubbed off on me."

 

There was another silence.

 

“SPEAKING OF LITTLE PUNKS.." Papyrus twiddled his thumbs, earning a raised brow. “DO YOU HAVE AN EXTRA ROOM?? I MEAN, IM JUST ASKING IN CASE SOMEBODY TOTALLY COOL COULD COME HANG OUT WITH YOU! BUT OF COURSE IF YOU'RE—"

 

“Papyrus,” Undyne said, and he stopped. “Are you asking if you can stay over my house?"

 

“... _YESSSS?”_

 

Undyne snatched the couch cushion and slapped him with it, cackling, “OH MY GOD?? YES??? Of course, you little _nerd_!" She leaped on top of the table to noogie him. Papyrus cringed upon impact.

 

“ _DON'T NOOGIE THE SKELETON!"_

 

 

[__]

 

 

Undyne woke up only a few hours after Papyrus had arrived. Parched, she tip-toed down her steps, feeling something familiar in the air but unable to put her finger on it.

 

 However, above the quiet noise of running water, and adorable snores came a low roar. A roar that reminded her of the ocean, low but fierce.

 

Undyne felt uneasy.

 

Out of habit, a cyan spear crackled in her grip, her brow furrowing at the odd glowing that was coming from just around the corner. She slowly made her way towards the living room. The roaring was growing louder.

 

It made Undyne feel uneasy.

 

Under the door of Alphys' favorite bedroom, was tendrils of magic, writing and _alive_  and it made Undyne so, so uneasy. She approached slowly, knowing that perhaps it would be against her better judgment because her _friend was in there._ She was one step away from the door.

 

The glow stopped.

 

Undyne gently knocked on the door before she pushed open.

 

Papyrus was on the floor, pressing himself against the bed like he wanted to disappear, crying—no _sobbing_  all by himself. "Papyrus." She croaked. Papyrus' eyes snapped to meet her's and it shattered her heart. 

 

“Oh, _Pappy,_ " She had never been the affectionate type, but she was that night. She sat down and pulled him into a tight hug as he whispered apologies over and over. “Papyrus, it's okay, I'm here."

 

He didn't say anything, he just cried on her shoulder. 

 


	2. mushi monsters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gerson nopes the hell out and Undyne is sad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so unhappy with this chapter but I've changed it as much as humanly possibly so just take it out of my life
> 
> Edit: i check on this chapter every other day it has completely consumed my every waking moment this is true writing enjoy

 

 

Undyne had stayed in the room all night, much to Papyrus' dismay. However, she awoke to a messy, empty bed. Did she sleep on the floor all night just for him to be gone? No, she didn't! She tried calling his phone number, texted a few times and even left an e-mail. Once again, he dropped off her friendship radar and into the black abyss of ...socks and sticky notes, probably. 

 

As infuriating as it was, Undyne's life continued as normal. Sorta.

 

 However, a revolution blessed her consciousness at the most unexpected moment. Undyne's jaw dropped, leaving Alphys to anxiously decide if she should tell her cereal was pouring back into the bowl.

 

No matter who it was, how hard they worked to gain her respect, how much they impacted her life ... the monsters she dearly cared for were being purged from her life. Really,  it began with Gerson, who was never really savvy with change to begin with. But he saw that the Surface was swarming with humans, new experiences and liberal ideas, he decided to resume his position.

 

 The (Ex-)Canine Unite had left the state entirely. The last time she had heard from or about them was a couple months ago, when they had began to plan their trips to California, Alaska and who knows where else. As one of the most hilarious, clumsy group of monster's she'd ever known..they were one hell of a family. They really  _did_ care for each and every heartbeat in the Underground and there was no doubt they were gonna do some real good, now that humans were under their wing too.

 

Then there was ASGORE ... If she had only stopped for a minute she would have realized what he was trying to make her understand all along, that it wasn't  _kill or be killed_ , black or white, good or bad. Perhaps if she had listened to the "All Life Has Value" speeches, she would have had more her time with the human. She scarcely remembered anything he taught her outside of battle techniques, only one because of how concerned she'd been. He said that the world would continue to turn without him and it might have to, one day.

 

The world wasn't going to stop for her.

 

 Somewhere down the line Undyne had slipped into a melancholy routine, work, eat, sleep.. but Papyrus' visit made her realize just how deeply she had fallen. It made her realize that she couldn't expect Frisk to come back to fix things anymore, because they weren't. And just because they left didn't mean they everything was undone.

 

That's why she needed to bring them together, for her and for Frisk.

 

“Howdy, this is Asgore Dremmur I am unavailable right now—”

 

“Hello, this is the voicebox of Toriel—”

 

“THIS IS THE GREAT PAPYRUS—”

 

“this, uh, might be sans—”

 

“NGGHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!” In a frenzy, Undyne threw her phone across the room, pressing her palms into her eyes. Alphys almost immediately stepped out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her body.

 

“What's wrong?!”

 

“It's just like that little— _fucking squirt made everything_ perfect and ruined everything at the same time?? All of our friends were together at home, Alphys! But now they're everywhere but here! Why aren't they here with us, Alphys? _Why?_ ”

 

“U-Undyne, I-I'm not sure where everybody else is ... but we can still call them, right?..” 

 

“That doesn't matter because that chemistry is GONE, Alphys! Everybody clicked because we had something in common!” Deep down, Undyne hoped that their bond was deeper, but she was too angry to correct herself, “We were there for _them_. We were willing to give up our freedom, Alphys! Everybody was! What happened?”

 

Alphys blinked, “U-Undyne, imagine having a whole new world of possibilities at your fingertips...like, when you're getting wrapped up in new possibilities it's easy to..make mistakes..” Alphys said, growing sad,“l-look, I know you feel. I k-know how you are. Don't blame this on yourself. Everybody slips up a bit, Undyne. T-they haven't forgotten us, I think. We ARE friends, and will continue to be. But w-we just..have to remind ourselves that we are.”

 

Undyne deflated, spreading her arms for a hug. Wordlessly, Alphys walked into it.

 

“You're right, Alph. This past months have been really busy. Hell, I almost forgot all the good times until it came literally knocking at my door! We just need to be reminded, like you said.” Alphys sat on the bed next to her girlfriend.

 

“S-so, what are we going to do about it?”

 

“Plan a party of course,” Undyne noticed how nervous Alphys became so she added, “a small one.” 

 

“G-good.” Alphys chuckled, “..Guess we're starting this s-shitstorm back up again.”

 

  

[__]

 

"alright.”

 

Papyrus stopped in his tracks, his back still turned to his brother. “HI.”

 

“nice to see you're back,” Sans closed his eyes, “after a week.”

 

“WELL, THAT'S NOT MY FAULT!” Sans stared at him.

 

“sure it's not,” Sans held out his hand. “your key.”

 

“YOU'RE MAKING ME GIVE UP MY OWN KEY?”

 

“no, i got pissy and changed the locks. so unless you wanna get locked out-”

 

“ _I GOT IT.”_  Papyrus took the key from Sans. “I'M GOING TO MY ROOM.”

 

“cool.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does anybody get the almost reference in the title cause it's making me so pissed to realize that become a fucking superhero I had to pay for that bullshit
> 
> P.S—I wasn't gonna add any skeleton drama but this chapter needed something so fuck it I'm too tired


	3. steamy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Undyne: Gimmie answers!
> 
> Papyrus: you can pry them from my cold, dead fingers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ENJOY YOU SINNERS
> 
> I have rewritten this chapter about three times and I dont understand why it isn't freaking saving

 

 

 

In the time before the get-together, Papyrus' visits were becoming more frequent. As hard as he was trying, it was obvious that he was lying low. On top of that, Alphys was trying to gather the decor as Undyne was trying to land a reservation. Busy days and hurried conversations were almost enough to make Undyne forget to investigate what was going on with him.

 

Almost.

 

Papyrus sat peacefully, hunched over his cell on her velvet couch. That was until Undyne vaulted herself over the back-rest, causing him to bounce off the seat when she landed. “Hey! What's up? I haven't seen you in a while, skelepunk!”

 

“SKELEPUNK??”

 

“And your brother is skelepun!”

 

“DELIGHTFUL!” 

 

“Where have you _been?_ First, you treat my house and I like a hotel, then you ignore me for a week,” Undyne slapped her index finger against the fingers on her other hand, listing off the offenses, “and _then_ you ditched me without any special training! I haven't had any pasta in months, man!”

 

“GASP!”

 

“Double gasp!”

 

“T-triple gasp!” Alphys had joined the conversation a few moments earlier, digging her elbows into the frame, head in her hands as she watched the exchange.  Undyne soared from the couch, landing next to her, “Oh!”

 

“C'mon!! Show us that PASSION!” Papyrus had almost completely turned in the seat, watching Undyne turn to her girlfriend, holding her palms out, which Alphys punched.  “YEAH!!” Papyrus stood, grinning.

 

“YOU KNOW WHAT?? I WILL DO IT!!” Undyne grabbed Alphys and Papyrus by their arms, half-dragging, half-running with them into the kitchen. “SPECIAL TRAINING COMMENCE!!”

 

Alphys pulled out tomatoes from their fridge, not wasting a moment to pelt the wall with them. “Take that, you f-fruits!” Undyne bared her teeth, using the serrated edges to shred the cheese.

 

“WHAT'S THE CHEESE FOR??” Papyrus said, alternating between crumpling the bag into a ball small enough to fit into the pot. 

 

“SECRET INGREDIENT!!” Undyne added the pomegranates next.

 

With two, rather large monsters (and Alphys), the kitchen was quite a sight to behold.Papyrus was hunched over the pot, struggling to turn the spoon as the water had been reduced to a gum-like liquid. Next to the fridge, Undyne resorted to flicking her hands at a bowl, hoping they would make it after she had tried to scrape the tomatoes off the wall and they stuck. And Alphys was making a poor attempt at making sushi, sweating profusely.

 

“U-Undyne!” Alphys felt an unbearable heat scorching her neck and for a moment she believed it to be Undyne's breath, she turned, realizing it was something more sinister. “U-uh oh..” Papyrus was backing away from the stove... Papyrus and Alphys screamed at the same time, the pot bubbling over with an unknown gray fluid, littered with chunks of cardboard, oozing. 

 

“WHAT?!?”

 

It exploded.

 

 

Cleaning the kitchen to a livable condition took a large chunk out of the day, the sunset fading into the dark shades of nighttime, so of course, everybody was hungry, but also very sore. Alphys, Undyne, and Papyrus sat on the porch, side-by-side, chewing on their pineapple, onion, green pepper, olive, spinach pizza. Even Papyrus has succumbed to the greasy food (“—ONLY BECAUSE EVERYTHING ELSE HAS BEEN ON THE CEILING!”).

 

Alphys eventually sat up, rolling her shoulders. “I'm heading to s-sleep. B-but thanks for the great time you two. I had fun today.”

 

“No problem, babe.” Undyne grinned as Alphys left the two alone. “So.”

 

“SO.”

 

“So.”

 

“SO?”

 

“So.” Undyne nodded solemnly like she had the worse news ever.

 

“SO..” Papyrus nodded like he had just received the worst news ever.

 

“About that night, a week ago,” Papyrus made a grunt of confusion, “when you had that nightmare.”

 

“SO— I MEAN OH.”

 

“Yeah, dude, it didn't exactly help when your brother called, asking where you were,” Undyne said, chewing mindlessly on her crust, but making no move to eat it. “What happened?”

 

“NOTHING HAPPENED. WE JUST ... NEEDED SOME SPACE.”

 

“Ooh, 'just needed some _space'._ What, too many puns?” Undyne smiled, waiting for a laugh or some sort of retort. 

 

“NO, WE GO INTO A REALLY BAD ARGUMENT,” Papyrus hugged his knees, gently rocking, “LIKE _REALLY_ BAD.”

 

“Really,” Undyne licked her lips, mauling over this information, “what was it about?”

 

Papyrus went quiet. “..I SUGGESTED WE GO BACK, AND HE DIDN'T WANT THAT. HE GOT REALLY UPSET BECAUSE HE HAD BEEN _HAPPIER,_ AND—AND—HE—IT WAS JUST AWFUL..” Undyne wrapped her arm around him.

 

“Damn..I'm sorry, I'm sure things will sort themselves out. Being on the surface is..different for everybody,” Papyrus and Undyne stood up together, the latter shoving the box under her arm. “just give it time.”

 

Papyrus nodded, leaving to go to his room while Undyne left into the kitchen to tear the box up for trash.

 

 

**_[10 A.M]_ **

 

 ****_“Commencing test one..”_

 

Nothing could describe the feeling of being back in the labs, perhaps a mixture of nostalgia and horror. Thankfully, Papyrus wasn't nearly as sad or frightened as the first time he had a dream such as this one. He wasn't _happy_ with said dream, he was rattling in the waking world, but-

 

 _"it's me, just making sure you're ok.."_  Papyrus was forcibly snapped into reality. The door was cracked, (he remembers closing it on his way in) a thin stream of moonlight cutting into the dark room, illuminating Undyne's blue scales. She had her ear to the phone, the brightness turned on the lowest setting.

 

"This isn't what it looks like." Undyne said.

 

Papyrus kicked off the blankets. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" He took it from her and muted the phone. Undyne looked away from his not-angry-just-disappointed glare.

 

"You have a voicemail from your brother."

 

"SO IT SEEMS," Papyrus crossed his arms, "BUT WHY ARE _YOU_ LOOKING AT IT? YOU'RE NOT OUR SECRET, LONG-LOST SISTER, ARE YOU?"

 

"No, but-"

 

"THEN HE'S _MY_ ONLY BROTHER!" Papyrus said. Undyne didn't say anything. "YOU REALLY SHOULDN'T MAKE A HABIT OF LOOKING INTO OTHER PEOPLE'S PHONES. YOU MIGHT SEE SOMETHING YOU WILL REGRET SEEING."

 

Undyne looked up to ask what he meant, but he was gone. 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Non-important/boring stuff that I'm doing after the following::
> 
> it's been about 8 or 9 days since i last updated,,, which isn't a surprise i kinda forced myself to write and edit and write and edit,, it especially didn't help that my progress got deleted 'n stuff :U
> 
> as normal im either posting these at 12 am or writing as i was planning to go to sleep or something,, speaking of tiredness, i heard that youre more creative when you're tired???
> 
> anyways i kinda edited the tags, and the notes and made some spelling and grammar corrections in chapter one,,
> 
> im gonna casually drop my tumblr account, sweetzcookie, so have fun


	4. Failure is not an option...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus goes missing.

 

 

Undyne's chest heaved, her breath extruding from her body in wispy puffs of steam. The neighborhood she had settled in was dark at best and a black hole at worst, but as she rounded a sharp corner, the streets seemed to glow. Undyne could see it was a small area, the last house sat at a dead-end that was half-a-mile or so away. She didn't slow by much, but her whole body sagged in relief.

As she approached, she hopped over the steps, the momentum carrying her forward. She whirled around like a ballerina, her spine taking the brunt instead. Undyne took a moment before she knocked. It didn't take long for someone to answer.

 

"i say ' _rattle my bones_ ' a lot," Sans began, only to cut himself with a weak chuckle. "..but i don't literally mean shake my entire porch, thanks."

 

Undyne fanned herself. " _Papyrus?"_

 

"what about 'em?" Sans said, crossing his arms. "what, he isn't with you?" Undyne shook her head.

 

He paused before disappearing from the doorway, leaving the door wide open. A little shocked, she allowed herself in. She noticed the house looked less worn than it did previously: most of the house had wooden floors, the stair banister looked polished and the paint on the walls looked newer. It  _looked_ as if Papyrus had swung by but with the current circumstances, it seemed unlikely.

 Suddenly, Sans took Undyne's hand. "take this," He said, dropping his phone into her palm.  He took his jacket off the couch and walked to the door. He had but one arm in the sleeve and the other on the doorknob when he added, "and stay here in case he comes back."

 

"What do you MEAN? _"_   Sans didn't bother turning around. "I can't—!"

 

"look." Sans said. "you have the best intentions in mind and in soul, but c'mon. who did he just run away from?"

 

She didn't have to answer.

 

 

He left without another word.

 

 

____

 

_"Doctor, the power levels are stable and well within the limitations. The ..." The voice sneered as it continued, "'cooling system' seemed to be efficient."_

 

_"Excellent. Good work."    said. "...Please, clock out for the night. You should be well well rested tomorrow seeing as you have no more duties as of this moment. Any calculations that have not been confirmed as correct, will be corrected by me, as well as the hypotheses made by the trainees."_

 

_"Doctor, you're too kind."_

 

_"You are most welcome. Enjoy these small miracles when you can, the testing day is on the twentieth of May."_

 

_"A month?" The voice hesitated. "Don't work yourself too hard,        . The science department still needs you, and not just for kind gestures."_

 

_"I appreciate your concern, but it won't be needed."        waved his colleague off. "Have a good day."_

 

_The doors shut behind him with a whooshing noise.          took a breath in, sensing the air rush into his ribcage and the freshness of a mint settle into his mouth.  pressed his palms against the edge of his desk and pushed off; he spun around, digging his heels into the ground and slowing himself._

  _He stared at the C.A.T. He could feel the stiff card against his chest, a small pressure her never noticed under his thick, wooly shirts._

 

**This was it.**

____

 

 

 Papyrus breathed heavily, forcing his way through brambles and overgrown vines. He could see the mountain cutting into the moon, casting a dark shadow upon everything behind it.

 

**No turning back.**

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was trying to go for a really long chapter, but that's not really my style pfft


	5. Control + Alt + Delete

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus finds out the truth.

 Alphys was such a messy person!

 

Papyrus thumbed through Alphys' old cabinet's drawers, realizing that nothing was organized, chronically _or_ alphabetically. He remembered that she had mentioned her less-than-desirable trait before, once or twice. Twelve times. _A lot_. She didn't like herself, he knew that much, so he assumed she was exaggerating. She and Sans were very alike in a number of ways, but  _wow_. She  _really, really_ wasn't. Not even a tab binder was present, and there were possibly thousands of these random science reports, some on D.T., others on the Basic Theorems of Magic. As he stumbled upon  _W.D GASTER's_ old name badge, a memory resurfaced. A face. Two dark eyes with two white dots darting around inside of them, two shallow cracks engrained in the bone. He had to pull up his shirt afterwards, to make sure his ribs hadn't shattered. What a strange sensation...

The joy of remembering a bit of his past was tarnished by his fruitless search. He did NOT hike up a mountain to find _nothing._ He looked and looked and looked, but hadn't found anything even remotely useful! The entire place looked different from the last time he was here, so how was he supposed to know where anything was? Papyrus dug his palms into his eyes, rough bone scraping loudly against rough bone. If he were better with people, maybe he could have persuaded Sans to help, the smarter, better brother, with him and his computers. All of this amounted to nothing at all. He was so useless. All he did was stir up all this trouble—

 

Wait.

 

Papyrus turned to his right, realizing that the computer was right there. He jumped in delight. Of course! What point was _paper_ when you had _technology_? In his excitement, he didn't bother using the desk chair. He bent over, grinding his teeth as his fingers fluttered across the keys.

 

_ENTER PASSWORD_

 

“UHH?” Papyrus said aloud.

 

_I l-o-v-e u-n-d-y-n-e_

 

_PASSWORD DENIED_

 

Oh boy.

 

Papyrus sagged, rattling his brain for anything that might give him a clue. “Uhmmmm.... MEW MEW KISSY TWO SUCKS? ANIME-LIZARD! I LOVE RAMEN!” All of his attempts failed. He checked the cabinets a second time. Was there a point? Alphys didn't seem like a very forgetful monster. She probably wouldn't have written it down. 

 

“OH,” Papyrus remembered the time she entrusted him with her Undernet password. “‘anxiousgay’?”

 

_LOADING..._

 

Papyrus whooped, pumping his arms. Results were good! Papyrus scoffed into the air. Sans and his Good Intentions™ could shove it! He would finally understand who he was! The desktop was nearly empty, except for one folder titled ‘Royal Scientist'. He tapped the screen twice before he realized that he needed to use the mouse. He was trembling as the cursor shook over the screen icon.

He clicked it, and a few moments later, a window opened. The first he saw was a pdf. document titled ‘goodbye’. Next to it was ‘ _Royal Scientist Alphys_ ’, then ‘ _Royal Scientist W.D.G_ ’. Typically Papyrus hated procrastinating, but he was so anxious he scrolled down the page, his eyes scanning over a century's worth of Royal Scientists. He only scrolled back up once he hit the bottom.

 

_**Name: WING DING GASTER**_

_**Species: Skeleton**_  

 

Was this their _dad_? Was _he_ the voice he'd feel whispering to him in his nightmares? His head was hurting more and more. He skipped over everything else. He remembered a lab, he remembered being in anguish... He and this man must be connected somehow! 

 

 ** _Family_** : _1 Other_ _(DECEASED)_

 

One other? Deceased? That didn't make sense at all. Who had no family? Except Sans and Papyrus, of course. This just wasn't adding up. Papyrus' eye-sockets widened. What if GASTER wasn't their dad?!? What if SANS was his dad and GASTER was his long-lost brother?!?! His entire realty was gonna collapse on him, and  _completely crush him!!_

 

Papyrus anxiously clicked on the highlighted words and waited for the screen to 

 

 _JESTER GASTER_  (DECEASED)

 

_**DARKERYETDARkerLABwhAabLIKEforDogsIMUSTcATCHRhEHUMANMYNAMEISPApYRUSNOiAmNOTWHOLEIaMNOTWHOLeIAMSPLIcEDIAMTORN** _

 

 

 

 _What_  had he done? Papyrus ~~ ** _orgasterthelineisunclear_**~~ clutched his skull, shaking his head furiously. Magic throbbed and beat against his eyelids but he refused to _let it out_  for he knew a screech of agony would follow. His gloves fell to scraps of fabric on the floor, shriveling in magic, burning.

 This was what Sans _ ** ~~AGAINTHELINEISUNCLEAR~~**_ was warning him against, wasn't it? All this time he thought it was himself who was being experimenting on, but it had never been him from the start. It was the exact opposite. Sans didn't even  _know._ As pathetic as it was, a part of him died realizing that he didn't know—he wasn't hiding anything. He didn't _remember._

 

”I'M SO, SO, SORRY MY S-S,” He whimpered to nobody. He choked on his grief, a lump the size of a brick lodged in his throat. He had to make this up to him. He would make this right. He remembered the tarp, the machine, what it was ( _pleasegiveup)_  meant to do. Papyrus forced himself to click the trash bin, where he found only one file. He should feel like scum, but he knew it would be there.

 

DT EXPERIMENTS.

 

He scrolled down slowly, taking a moment to absorb what followed next.

 

“...I'm a failure. All I've done is hurt people. I don't want to hurt anybody else ever again. So, I'm gonna go out just like the Dr. Gaster did. If anyone finds this, I'm sorry. I'm so, so, sorry that you know the truth. I can't properly dispose of DT, so I hid it away in the true lab. The code is 469109. ”

 

Papyrus ignored the stab of guilt, ignored what he was _reading-reading._ He noticed the leather case under the desk when he first walked in.

 

He was gonna fix this. He was gonna fix this, no matter what.

 

*

 

 

_“Are you ready to do this, my son? For science?”_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me rn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsvyjePPFRs


End file.
